During the Tudor period, lead was utilized to build roofs and windows because it was easily mailable and resistive to corrosion. Farmers would mine for lead during the summer months when their crops did not need tending to in order to generate additional income. Mining during the summer months could earn an extra £5.00 which equates to £25,000 as of 2012 when accounting for inflation. Entire families often worked within the mines because 50 barrels worth of ore and soil would be extracted per day to meet the quota of what was required to be profitable. Smelting involved the use of white coal which is effectively dried wood from a kiln and was always setup upon windy hilltops or mountains because the wind would cause the fire blaze with more intensity therefore reaching higher overall temperatures. The best wood to make white coal is oak. Kilns must be airtight, so gaps were filled with clay. Knowing a kiln to be airtight was easily verifiable by searching for smoke as if smoke only came out of only the front entrance, the kiln was considered airtight. Ore was smashed into small pieces to help it smelt more rapidly which yielded approximately an 80% return upon investment. Metals were then refined using a secondary kiln, and smelted to remove any ash or impurities. The first burn removes ore from the rock, and the second burn removes impurities with the main impurity being sulphur. Molds were constructed using sand and wood to create divots which allowed the ore to be molded into blocks much the same as a modern day bar of gold. The sand gives the mold an indentation which archeologists use to identify Medieval bars of smelted ore
Category: Business
Large Technology Corporations Purchasing Competition to Monopolize the Marketplace
Large technology corporations have the ability to analyze potential competitors and acquire them before they have a chance to compete. This is detrimental to consumers as it eliminates competition in the marketplace. Facebook has acquired more then 75 companies (e.g. WhatsApp, Instagram, Lightbox etc. ), Amazon has acquired more than 100 (e.g. Audible, Whole Foods, Ring etc.), and Alphabet, the umbrella organization which owns Google, has acquired more than 200 (e.g. Picasa, YouTube, Songza etc.). In 2010 and 2011, these technology juggernauts were acquiring competition at a rate of more than 1 company per week
The Origin of the Ku Klux Klan Uniform
Surprisingly, it was not the Ku Klux Klan that created the insignia of the ghostly white hooded robe as the uniform of the Ku Klux Klan as Hollywood was the first to portray this ensemble in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. The film was directed by David Wark Griffith, who wanted to portray the infamous Ku Klux Klan as modern Knights of the Round Table, directing his costume department to invent a rather frightening, single piece outfit with knight insignia (e.g. the Knights Templar crucifix etc.). These costumes were based upon the Christian flagellant society of Spain, who donned the capirote (pronounced “kah-pee-row-tay”), a pointed hooded headware worn during Easter processions as a means of penance. The costume became immensely popular and could be ordered from a catalog which Griffith setup to sell within. Shortly afterward, the Ku Klux Klan adopted these textiles as their official uniform
The Origin of the Wedding Garter Belt Tradition
During the Medieval period, pieces of a brides ensemble were considered tokens of good luck and fertility. These items were so prized that wedding guests would routinely fight to rip the textiles right off of the bride’s body. This is why the tradition of throwing the garter into the crowd developed as part of European stylized wedding ceremonies
The Financial Cost of a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star
As of 2023, the cost a celebrity must incur to have their name and profession immortalize upon the Hollywood Walk of Fame is $55,000. This fee is stated to pay for the installation of the star as well as its maintenance (e.g. sweeping and cleaning throughout the year etc.)
The Reason the Chinese Government Censored Footage of Soccer Games During the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup
During the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Qatar, the Chinese government intercepted and censored all footage displayed in China in a concerted effort to prohibit Chinese citizens from observing World Cup fans from around the world enjoying and celebrating the games without masks as the Chinese government does not want the Chinese public to believe that doing so is a potential possibility
The First Civilization to Domesticate the Horse
The first images and reliefs carved of human beings riding horses or horse drawn chariots appear 1500 years after the Botai people in 2000 B.C., specifically in Egypt. Supplementary evidence of the Botai being the first horse herders does exist, including evidence of cooking and smoking large quantities of horse meat as well as possessing large deposits of horse dung and holes dug specifically for fence posts, which indicate the Botai kept horses within corrals. The Botai most likely kept corrals to have meat readily available on demand, eliminating the need to venture into the forest, to stalk and hunt a horse, then carry it back to a settlement. Perhaps the strongest evidence of horse domestication by the Botai is the keeping of horse milk, as it is highly unlikely that hunters consistently milked wild horses
The Coca Leaf Extraction Process to Manufacture Cocaine
The cocaine extraction process is complicated but begins with workers shredding the leaves of the coca plant into fine particulate with machinery (e.g. weed trimmer etc.) after which cement powder is added, then sulphuric acid dissolved in water, with the leaves then being placed into an oil drum and doused with gasoline. The mixture is left to sit for an extended period of time so that the cocaine itself can be extracted from the coca leaf. The oil drum mixture is stirred continuously using a large rod and then poured through a filter into another container where battery acid is introduced. The battery acid is sulphuric acid making it similar to the first few steps but it is slightly different as it is diluted with water to become no greater than a 37% concentrate. Battery acid helps to separate the cocaine liquid from the gasoline, with 90% of the barrel being gasoline and 10% at the bottom being pure liquid cocaine. Because the gasoline and liquid cocaine have different specific densities, plantation workers place a hose into the bottom of the barrel so that the liquid cocaine can be extracted, either using a pump or gravity by manually sucking on the hose until liquid cocaine starts flowing through. Pure liquid cocaine is clear like water, and has an acidic, bitter, strong taste. Sodium bicarbonate is then added as it helps to eradicate the excess gasoline and battery acid which remains and turns the liquid white. Once the liquid is dried, it begins to resemble cocaine but the process is not yet complete. The dried powder is then cooked on a stove top and stirred continuously to remove further impurities, the top layer is then removed the same way soup skin is removed with a brown colored liquid left remaining which is cocaine. The brown liquid is spread onto a baking pan and left to dry. It is this paste that is passed onto drug cartels to then be distributed internationally
The Origins of Star Wars Day; May 4th
Star Wars Day, which occurs every year on May 4th, as this date is reminiscent of the phrase, “may the force be with you” (e.g. “May the Fourth be with you”) started on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as prime minister of Britain. A large advertisement was published on this date in recognition of Thatchers achievement which read “May The Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.”
The First Personal Computer and its Ramifications Upon Technology
The Altair 8800 from Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems is considered to be the first personal computer, although ironically, the system itself did nothing as software had yet to be invented. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak used the Altair 8800 as the basis for the Apple I, the first ever Apple product. Additionally, Bill Gates and his team wrote Basic for the Altair 8800 and created Microsoft from that programming language